Torch Relay in Yangzhou

It was 12:30 p.m. and the torch would not be here until 3:00. But there were already thousands of people at the head of Wenchang Road, staking their claim to a small piece of sidewalk and preparing to welcome the Olympic Torch to their city.

They carried flags of all sizes, from the cheap miniature you might get in an ice-cream sundae to the full-sized one you might find wrapped around the body of a sprinter as he circles the track for a victory lap.

There were grown men in “I love China” T-shirts with Chinese-flag stickers on both cheeks. Others wore red headbands with Chinese characters in gold lettering.

And almost everyone had the same hat on.

It turns out, the hats were for volunteers. There were thousands of them, and their job was to wave their flags and lead various chants. (One of my colleagues tells me the chants translate roughly into, “Come on, Olympics!” and “Come on, Beijing!” and “Welcome to Yangzhou!”)

Whoever organized them really didn’t need to. By 1:30 p.m., the volunteers were dwarfed by the number of ordinary citizens who were on hand, dressed every bit as ridiculously and waving their own very large flags.

It was the kind of enthusiasm normally reserved for a college football game or a political rally, which in a way is what it was. If the torch relay had been a political event in London and Paris and San Francisco, the Yangzhou leg of the relay was a rally of a different sort. A pep rally for the Party, if you will.

There was pageantry aplenty, including a pair of trucks filled with Beijing ’08 cheerleaders.

But mostly, it was a few sweaty hours of people who love their country hoping to catch a glimpse of the Olympic Torch (and maybe get a shot of it on their camera-phones).

And after two-and-a-half hours in the sun, far too many photo ops with excited locals, and 17 yuan spent on a Torch Relay T-shirt and two miniature flags, I caught my own brief glimpse of the torch. And though I had to crop out the hands, flags, and camera-phones of my fellow torch-gawkers, I even got a shot of it on my camera.

I’d heard a few days ago that one of the students from our school would be participating in the torch relay. It turns out, he played a pretty major role in the event. He’s the guy standing to the left of the torchbearer (he’s the one who isn’t wearing a hat).

After a dramatic salute (above) in the center of the traffic circle at the head of Wenchang Road, the flame was transferred to a new torchbearer. All of this happened about 20 feet, and many dozens of people, from where I was standing.

I posed for a number of pictures with locals who wanted a photo with a foreigner, but this is my favorite. (How often do you get a picture with a guy in a “I heart China” shirt and a Chinese flag cape?)

The scarf draped around my neck was handed to me by a random passerby a few minutes after I arrived at the traffic circle. I don’t read Chinese, but the many people I asked for translations tell me it is a tribute to the victims of the earthquake in Sichuan Province.

There wasn’t a separatist in sight at the head of Wenchang Road, but there were plenty of police officers. The police presence wasn’t any worse than you would expect to find at an event of this size, though.

A grown man with Chinese-flag stickers on both cheeks.

Another one.

One of the two large trucks carrying Beijing ’08 cheerleaders.

There was a huge crowd in front of KFC more than two hours before the torch arrived. One of two air-conditioned restaurants with a view of the traffic circle, the KFC was absolutely packed by 12:30 p.m.

A headband, stickers, and a giant flag gives this guy the torch relay trifecta.

And we close with laowai looking silly. This is me and Alice, the other foreign teacher at our school. Somebody handed me the big flag for the photo, but the small flags we bought from a guy on the street for 2 yuan.